Internal-combustion engine.



No., 725,990. I PATENTED APR, 21; 1903.

Q A. L. BIKER.

INTERNAL' COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 16, 1902.

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PATENTED APR .21, 1903.

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BATENTED APRJ21, 1903. V A. L. BIKER. INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 16, 1902.

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ANDREW L. RIKER, oF SHORTHILLS, NEW JERsEY, ASSIGNOR TO TIIE LOOOMOBILE COMPANY OF AMERIoA, on NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF WEST; V R NIA.

INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ENGINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of" Letters Patent N0. 725,990, dated April 21, 1903. Application filed July 16, 1902. $erial1\ o. 115,843. (No model.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ANDREW L. BIKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Short hills, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented an Improvement in Internal-Combustion Engines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specihcation, like characters on the drawings representing likeparts.

This invention has for its object to provide a novel and improved internal-combustion engine, and since the invention is particularly applicable to motor-vehicles I have herein illustrated and will describe said invention in connection with such a vehicle.

The various features of. my invention will best be understood from a description of one embodiment thereof shownin the accompanying drawings, wherein p Figure l, in side elevation, illustrates in outline a typical motor-vehicle equipped with an engine containing myinvention; Fig. 2, a top or plan View of Fig. 1; Fig. 3, an enlarged vertical sectional view through one of thecylinders of the engine; Fig. 4,'an enlarged detail illustrating the mounting of the inletvalves for the various cylinders of the engine,

the view being partiallyin section, Fig. 5, a.

detail, partially in section, showingthe Siamese connection for supplying the combustible mixture to the engine; Fig. .6, a detail in.

perspective, showingthe means for seating the spring at the end of an inlet-valve stem;

and Fig. 7, an enlarged sectional detail show ing one form of spark-plug that may be employed.

In the embodiment of my invention selected for illustration herein and shown in the drawings, referring particularly to Figs. 1 to 3, inclusive, myimproved engine is shown as a four-cylinder engine, the four cranks being set one hundred and eighty degrees apart, whereby perfect balance is obtained. Obviously Iny improved engine may have any number of cylinders, less or more than four, if desired. cylinders are in pairs, each pair being formed within a single casting E, (shown best in Figs. 1 and 3,) the said casting being formed In the engine shown the.

at itsupper end to present a dome-like portion a (see Fig. 1,) each of which includes two of the cylinders. As the cylinders, the contained pistons, va1ves,'&c., are similar, a detailed description of one will suffice for all. Referring, therefore, to Fig. 3, the casting E has formed within it the vertical cylinder e which contains the single-acting piston 6 This piston, as is common in single-acting engines, is made of sufficient length to serve lateral exit-passages c to the bearing-surface between the said pin and its connectingrod. The casting E rests upon the supporting' or intermediate casting (2 here shown as embracing both pairs of cylinders, and which extends downward to about the axis of the crank-shaft and has detachably secured to its lower end the bottom or well casting 2 The intermediate or supporting casting e is provided at its opposite sides with a plurality of supportingarms a, here shown as six in number, which rest upon a suitable portion of the frame, herein the longitudinal angular supporting members 0 Thus the bottom or ;well casting 6 may be detached to expose the interior parts of the engine without dister of great convenience. Furthermore, the engine-supports being located above the detachable bottom casting are brought nearer to the center of gravity of the engine, furnishing more stable support therefor. The upper or closed end of the cylinder is shown as bell-shaped to produce a sufliciently strong structure to resist the igniting action of the mixture within the cylinder and also to provide sufficient clearance, the said clearance or cup-shaped end portion having an inlet exhaust-port 6 shown as cylindrical in shape and closed at itsend by the sparking means, shown as a spark-plug S, which may be of other contact 3.

any suitable or.desired construction. The

spark-plug indicated in Fig. 3 is shown in Referring again to Fig. 3, the inlet exhaust-' port is provided at its top and bottom, respectively, with inlet and exhaust ports e e". The inlet-port e is formed in the conical tubular bonnet e detachably seated in the casting E.

Referring to Fig. 4, the bonnets 6 for each pair of cylinders are clamped in position by a single hollow yoke 6 secured by a. single clamping-bolt e tapped into the cylinder-casting, so that release of the said bolt, permitting removal of the yoke, permits also removal of either or both of the valve-bonnets 6 forming a ready means of access to the said bonnets whenever the valves contained therein need attention.

The gaseous mixture which furnishes the motive power is received from the supplypipe through a Siamese connection e Fig. 2, provided at its ends with a pair of heads 6, having outlets at their upper sides, which communicate with openings in the under sides of the yokes 6 The joints between the bonnets e the cylinder-casting, and yoke are ground, so that the tightening of the bolt 6 effectively clamps all the joints and renders the same tight, and, conversely, release of the said bolt releases all the said joints and permits any or all the parts to be removed.

The bonnets 6 (see Figs. 3 and 4) are provided with internal tubular guides 6 which receive the stems e of the inlet-valves c, said valves being normally lifted and seated against the bottom faces of the said bonnets 6 which constitute the valve seats, by springs 6 encircling the said guides e and acting at their upper ends against Washers 6 in turn seated against notched keys 6 (see Fig. 6,) inserted through the slotted upper ends of the stems 6 These inlet-valves 6 are opened against the action of their respective springs by the suction or vacuum seated at its'upper end against the casting and at its lower end upon a Washer 6 keyed to the said ste'm, said spring maintaining said valve normally seated. The lower end of the valve-stein e is acted upon by a lift-rod e provided at its upper end with a suitable adjusting-nut, the said lift-rod at its lower end e being forked to straddle the cam-shaft 6 which latter thus serves as a guide for the lift-rod in its vertical movements. Just above the cam-shaft e the lift-rod is provided at one side with a roller or other stud 6 which is acted upon by a cam 6 upon the said shaft and which at each rotation of the latter raises the valve-stem and the exhaustvalve 6 There are of course four such cams e one for each cylinder, each cam being properly timed to raise its exhaust-valve to permit exhaust of its cylinder at the proper time. The cam-shaft e is driven from the crank-shaft by suitable means, as the gears p p". (Shown in dotted lines, Figs. 2 and 3.) The exhaust after passing the valve 6 enters the exhaustpassage e escaping thence through the conduit e 1" the rear of the vehicle, Fig. 1, thence outward through the muflier e.

The several cylinders of the engine are sur-- rounded by a cooling-jacket space 6 formed in the cylinder-castin g and through which water or other cooling fluid is circulated in suitable or usual manner, as from a rotary pumpinders to create a vacuum therein, which antoma-tically opens the inlet-valves thereof and causes such cylinders to fill with combustible drawn by the vacuum from a usual mixing chamber or device-such, for instance, as indicated at M, Figs. land 2. The engine shown is what is of the four-cycle type-that is, the first downward movement of the piston creates a vacuum therein, which at once fills with combustible, drawn thereby past the inlet-valve of the said cylinder. The return stroke of the piston compresses the mixture thus drawn into the said cylinder, and at the close of the return stroke ignition occurs to impel the piston again downward, and upon the second return stroke the exhaust-valve is lifted from I its seat to permit the exhaust to escape, as described, thus completing the cycle of operation of the engine, the next succeeding downstroke of the piston beginning a new cycle and drawing in a newsupplyof combustible, as before.

To oil the engine, I have provided an oilreservoir T, Fig. 3, having an outlet-pipe 25, controlled by a valve t, which pipe enters the oil-chamber within the engine-casing near the bottom thereof. This casing is maintained normally partially filled with oil, so that ro- IIO tation of the cranks and other partsqtherein will serve to scatter the oil to the various bearings within the casing, which it is necessary to maintain properly lubricated. The escape of oil from the reservoir T may be so gaged as to supply gradually sufficient oil to make up for the loss due to the running of the engine, or instead it may be used merely to replenish at intervals the supply within the engine-casing. A branch pipe from the pipe t leads upward to the lower end of the cylinder and enters the cylinder opposite an annular groove 15 therein, which groove is so located that in the downward stroke of the piston the hollow wrist-pin thereof will reach a position opposite it. Thus any surplus oil thrown upon the interior surface of the cylinder flows or is pushed downward to and into the annular groove 6 and as the wrist-pin reaches a position opposite such groove aportion of the oil therein escapes or is taken ofi into the said wrist-pin, through which and the outlet-passages e therein it escapes to lubricate the wrist-pin hearing. The surplus oil escapes through the pipe 25 downward into the main body of the oil in the reservoir or well below.

The means for producing at the required intervals the sparking or other means of ignition of the combustible'within the cylinders is not described herein, since any suitable or well-known means may be employed for the purpose.

In the engine described the formation of the various ports, valve-seats, and jackets in a single casing reduces the element of workmanship and final cost to a minimum and at the same time largely eliminates the necessity for repairs. There are practically only three castings in the engine-the cylindercasting, the intermediate or supporting castin g, and the detachable well-casting-and the construction described whereby the inletvalves and their seats may be quickly removed without even disconnecting or displac ing the inlet or supply conduit 6, Fig. 5, enables said valves and seats, which require most frequent attention, to be readily gotten at for cleaning.

In Figs. 1 and 2 I have shown my improved engine arranged in a typical motor-vehicle, the engine crank-shaft driving through suitable or usual transmission mechanism at F to the jack-shaft f, thence by usual chains f to the rear or driving wheels of the vehicle.

My invention is not limited to the particular embodiment thereof here shown and described, for obviously the same maybe varied Without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim 1. An intern al-combustion engine provided with a suitable inlet-port, a supply-conduit, clamping means to clamp and place said conduit in communication with said inlet-port,

and a detachable inlet-valve seat removable on release of said clamping means without displacement of said conduit.

2. An internal-combustion engine having a detachable inlet-valve seat, a valve-bonnet, a supply-conduit having an exit-opening at the side of said valve-bonnet, a connectingconduit to connect said supply exit-opening with said valve-bonnet, and means for clamping the same in its connecting position.

3. An internal-combustion engine provided with a plurality of detachable inlet valve seats, a common inlet-yoke for said valveseats, and means to clamp said yoke and seats in operative position.

4. An internal-combustion engine provided with a plurality of detachable inlet valve bonnets, a common inlet-yoke holding the same in position, and means to secure said. yoke.

5. An internal-combustion engine provided with a detachable inlet-valve bonnet, an independently-movable inlet-head, and means simultaneously to clamp said bonnet and head in operative position and to release the same.

6. An internal-combustion engine provided with a plurality of inlet-valve seats, a single inlet-head therefor, and common means for securing said valve-seats and head in position, which when released will permit removal of either of said valve-seats or head without the others.

7. An internal-combustion engine provided with a combustible-supplying conduit, and a valve-seat and its valve, controlling exit of combustible from said conduit, said valveseat being removable independently of said conduit.

8. An internal-combustion engine provided with independently-removable combustiblesupplying conduit and inlet-valve bonnet,

and a removable connection between the twoi 9. An internal-combustion engine provided with normally communicating but independently-removable supply-conduit and inletvalve bonnet, and means to secure the saline in position.

10. An internal combustion engine provided with a plurality of inlet-valve bonnets, a supplyconduit therefor and normally in communication therewith, said bonnets being removable independently of said conduit.

11. An internal-combustion engine having a supply-conduit, and one or more inlet-valve seats controlling admission to said engine from said conduit and removable independently thereof.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ANDREW L. BIKER.

"Witnesses:

FREDERICK L. EMERY, ALBERT C. SoHULz. 

